What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Steal vs Cheap - What's the difference?

steal | cheap |

As verbs the difference between steal and cheap

is that steal is (lb) to take illegally, or without the owner's permission, something owned by someone else while cheap is (obsolete) to trade; traffic; bargain; chaffer; ask the price of goods; cheapen goods.

As nouns the difference between steal and cheap

is that steal is the act of stealing while cheap is trade; traffic; chaffer; chaffering.

As an adjective cheap is

low and/or reduced in price.

As an adverb cheap is

cheaply.

steal

English

Verb

  • (lb) To take illegally, or without the owner's permission, something owned by someone else.
  • :
  • *
  • *
  • *:"I was dragged up at the workhouse school till I was twelve. Then I ran away and sold papers in the streets, and anything else that I could pick up a few coppers by—except steal'. I never did that. I always made up my mind I'd be a big man some day, and—I'm glad I didn't ' steal ."
  • To appropriate without giving credit or acknowledgement.
  • :
  • (lb) To get or effect surreptitiously or artfully.
  • :
  • *(Isaac Watts) (1674-1748)
  • *:Variety of objects has a tendency to steal away the mind from its steady pursuit of any subject.
  • *(Francis Bacon) (1561-1626)
  • *:Always, when thou changest thine opinion or course, profess it plainly,and do not think to steal it.
  • *
  • To acquire at a low price.
  • :
  • (lb) To draw attention unexpectedly in (an entertainment), especially by being the outstanding performer. Usually used in the phrase steal the show.
  • (lb) To move silently or secretly.
  • :
  • *1922 , (Virginia Woolf), (w, Jacob's Room) Ch.1:
  • *:"Did he take his bottle well?" Mrs. Flanders whispered, and Rebecca nodded and went to the cot and turned down the quilt, and Mrs. Flanders bent over and looked anxiously at the baby, asleep, but frowning. The window shook, and Rebecca stole like a cat and wedged it.
  • *{{quote-news, year=2011, date=October 23, author=Phil McNulty, work=BBC Sport
  • , title= Man Utd 1-6 Man City , passage=United's hopes of mounting a serious response suffered a blow within two minutes of the restart when Evans, who had endured a miserable afternoon, lost concentration and allowed Balotelli to steal in behind him. The defender's only reaction was to haul the Italian down, resulting in an inevitable red card.}}
  • To withdraw or convey (oneself) clandestinely.
  • *(Edmund Spenser) (c.1552–1599)
  • *:They could insinuate and steal themselves under the same by their humble carriage and submission.
  • *(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • *:He will steal himself into a man's favour.
  • To advance safely to (another base) during the delivery of a pitch, without the aid of a hit, walk, passed ball, wild pitch, or defensive indifference.
  • To dispossess
  • *{{quote-news, year=2011, date=February 12, author=Les Roopanarine, work=BBC
  • , title= Birmingham 1-0 Stoke , passage=However, until Gardner stole the ball from Dean Whitehead in the centre circle with the half-hour approaching, setting off on a run which culminated with a testing long-range shot - with debutant Obafemi Martins lurking, Begovic gathered at the second time of asking - Stoke looked the more credible contenders to break the deadlock.}}

    Synonyms

    * (to illegally take possession of) flog, (Cockney rhyming slang) half-inch, (slang) knock off, (slang) jack, lift, nick, pinch, pocket, rob, thieve, confiscate, convert * (to secretly move) sneak * See also

    Antonyms

    * (acquire licitly ) receive, purchase, buy, earn * (provide freely ) donate, bestow, grant

    Troponyms

    * shoplift

    See also

    * burglarize * burgle * confiscate * pickpocket * pilfer * steal away

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The act of stealing.
  • A piece of merchandise available at a very attractive price.
  • At this price, this car is a steal .
  • (basketball, ice hockey) A situation in which a defensive player actively takes possession of the ball or puck from the opponent's team.
  • (baseball) A stolen base.
  • (curling) Scoring in an end without the hammer.
  • (computing) A policy in database systems that a database follows which allows a transaction to be written on nonvolatile storage before its commit occurs
  • Synonyms

    * (merchandise available at a very attractive price) bargain

    References

    cheap

    English

    Alternative forms

    * (l), (l) (dialectal)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Trade; traffic; chaffer; chaffering.
  • A market; marketplace.
  • Price.
  • A low price; a bargain.
  • * Shakespeare
  • The sack that thou hast drunk me would have bought me lights as good cheap at the dearest chandler's in Europe.
  • Cheapness; lowness of price; abundance of supply.
  • Adjective

    (er)
  • Low and/or reduced in price.
  • * John Locke
  • Where there are a great sellers to a few buyers, there the thing to be sold will be cheap .
  • * , chapter=3
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=One saint's day in mid-term a certain newly appointed suffragan-bishop came to the school chapel, and there preached on “The Inner Life.”  He at once secured attention by his informal method, and when presently the coughing of Jarvis […] interrupted the sermon, he altogether captivated his audience with a remark about cough lozenges being cheap and easily procurable.}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Out of the gloom , passage=[Rural solar plant] schemes are of little help to industry or other heavy users of electricity. Nor is solar power yet as cheap as the grid. For all that, the rapid arrival of electric light to Indian villages is long overdue. When the national grid suffers its next huge outage, as it did in July 2012 when hundreds of millions were left in the dark, look for specks of light in the villages.}}
  • Of poor quality.
  • Of little worth.
  • * Dryden
  • You grow cheap in every subject's eye.
  • (slang, of an action or tactic in a game of skill) underhand; dubious.
  • (derogatory) Frugal; stingy.
  • Synonyms
    * bargain, inexpensive, frugal, no frills, priced-off * (of poor quality) flimsy
    Antonyms
    * (low or reduced in price) dear, expensive, high-priced, pricey, * (of low value) precious, valuable
    See also
    *

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (obsolete) To trade; traffic; bargain; chaffer; ask the price of goods; cheapen goods.
  • (obsolete) To bargain for; chaffer for; ask the price of; offer a price for; cheapen.
  • (obsolete) To buy; purchase.
  • (obsolete) To sell.
  • Usage notes

    Use of cheap as a verb has been surpassed by .

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • Cheaply.
  • (Milton)

    Anagrams

    * * 1000 English basic words ----